Weber State
Cal Poly Wraps up Season Saturday at Weber State
11/22/2024 2:15:00 PM | Football
SAN LUIS OBISPO – Cal Poly football will play its final game of the 2024 season Saturday as the Mustangs travel to Ogden, Utah to face Weber State. Kickoff is set for 12 p.m. PT.
The game will air live on ESPN+ and locally on ESPN Radio 1280AM/101.7FM and GoPoly.com. Links to all those all well as live stats can be found on the football schedule page. You can also follow Cal Poly Football on Instagram (@calpolyfootbal) and on X (@calpolyfootball) for live updates throughout the game and for behind the scenes content.
Cal Poly is coming off a thrilling 26-23 win at home over Sacramento State last week. In that game, freshman safety Jeremiah Bernard secured the win for the Mustangs with a game winning forced fumble near their own goal line with 90 seconds left which was recovered by redshirt sophomore safety Mason Rivera. That allowed Cal Poly to then run the clock out for the win.
The Mustangs (3-7, 2-5 Big Sky) will be looking for their first win over the Wildcats (3-8, 2-5 Big Sky) since 2014 and snap a six-game losing streak.
Despite the record, Cal Poly has been close in nearly every game this season. Three of their seven losses so far this season have been by one score. Those include their games against San Diego, Idaho State, and Idaho.
Cal Poly’s defensive front seven have been extremely strong in each of the first seven games of the season as the Mustangs rank 39th in the nation in tackles for loss and 55th in the nation in sacks.
CAL POLY VERSUS WEBER STATE
The Mustangs look to snap a six-game series slide against Weber State dating to a 30-24 home victory on Oct. 11, 2014. The Wildcats prevailed in the last meeting between the two sides last season at Mustang Memorial Field and lead both the Big Sky Conference (6-3) and all-time (11-6) series.
SOMETHING TO PONDER
Saturday’s game will mark the final one in the legendary career of redshirt senior defensive end Elijah Ponder. Ponder, who later this spring will look to become the first Mustang drafted into the NFL since 2012, ranks third all-time in program history in career sacks with 25.5
After leading the Big Sky and being top five in the FCS in sacks in 2023, Ponder racked up all kinds of accolades: First Team All-Big Sky, FCS All-American. Heading into the 2024 season, Ponder continued to garner all kinds of preseason accolades and draw the attention of numerous NFL scouts. He has been named an FCS Preseason All-American, Preseason All-Big Sky, Shrine Bowl Watchlist and Reese’s Senior Bowl Watchlist.
Ponder, who earlier this season moved up into third all-time in program history in career sacks, ranks 37th in the FCS in sacks with six. He’s also 43rd in tackles for loss with 10.5.
In 2023, Ponder had 10 sacks, 52 tackles, 13 tackles for loss, and 17 quarterback hurries, which tied the program record for most in a season. He heads into his final season seventh all-time in career sacks in school history with 20. He needs just three more sacks to move into third all-time in Cal Poly history.
In the secondary, redshirt sophomore safety Mason Rivera has had a breakout season as he leads the team in tackles with 75, pass breakups with five, and forced fumbles with three. His three forced fumbles rank sixth most in the FCS.
INTO THE WOODS
Cal Poly’s leading receiver from last season Giancarlo Woods returns in 2024 after ranking 15th in the Big Sky in 2023 in receptions and receptions yards per game. He had 50 receptions for 498 yards and four touchdowns on the season. Woods caught seven balls against both Lincoln (Sept. 16) and UC Davis (Sept. 30). His performance in the Lincoln victory also included 77 yards and a career best three touchdowns.
This season, Woods leads the team with 49 receptions for 645 yards and four touchdowns.
THE WULFF OF CALIFORNIA BOULEVARD
Head Coach Paul Wulff enters his second season as Cal Poly’s head coach. Cal Poly’s 2023 27-10, season-opening win against San Diego provided Paul Wulff his first victory as Cal Poly head coach and first triumph as a collegiate head coach in 12 years. Having led Eastern Washington to three FCS Playoff appearances (2004-05, 2007) before serving as head coach at Washington State (2008-11), Cal Poly’s victory was Wulff’s first as a head coach since guiding the Cougars to a 37-27 victory against Arizona State on Nov. 12, 2011. Named the Cal Poly program’s 18th head coach on Dec. 6, 2022, Wulff – a near three-decade collegiate coaching veteran – is a three-time Big Sky Coach of the Year recipient at Eastern Washington (2001, 2004-05) while having directed the Eagles to a share of two Big Sky titles. Wulff’s other Big Sky coaching stops include Sacramento State (2016-18) and UC Davis (2019). The 2024 season marks Wulff’s 14th as a collegiate head coach.
HISTORY IN THE MAKING
Saturday’s game is the 1,001st in university history and the 341st game Cal Poly will have played since moving to the Football Championship Subdivision level in 1994. The Mustangs are currently 161-178 as an FCS program. The 100th game at the FCS level was a 34-13 win at Texas-El Paso (Sept. 6, 2003) while the 200th was a 41-10 triumph at South Alabama to end the 2011 season. Game No. 300 was a 48-14 loss to South Dakota (Sept. 18, 2021). The 100th FCS win was at Old Dominion, 50-37 (Oct. 9, 2010), and the 100th loss was to Eastern Washington, 35-22 (Nov. 16, 2013). Cal Poly earned its 500th all-time win at Portland State in October 2017 and is playing its 106th overall season and 30th in the FCS this fall. Cal Poly was a member of the now-defunct American West Conference (Southern Utah, Sacramento State, CSUN) before becoming an independent in 1996. After eight years as an FCS Independent, the Mustangs became a charter member of the Great West Football Conference in 2004. Following eight seasons in the Great West (and four titles), Cal Poly moved to the Big Sky Conference in 2012, capturing the title in its first season.
